Mojave Desert Petroglyphs

The Mojave Desert has been inhabited by people for some time.  Like most places on earth, the Mojave desert has undergone climate change even before the advent of car exhaust.  But for the last few thousand years before the coming of Europeans, the Mojave has been a desert and has been inhabited by people looking something like those in the picture above.  The need for clothing was minimal and in the absence of clothing to decorate ones body, one could paint directly on ones skin.
Adorning of the body was a normal human urge.

The adorning of ones environment was also a natural human urge.  There is evidence of this throughout the world and the Mojave is no exception.  

Here is another example of this urge, this collection of petroglyphs being somewhere in New Mexico. 

Theories of what these petroglyphs signify abound but there is no clear agreement.  I personally think that the urge to mark ones environment is universal and needs no explanation, but others think differently.

The natives who have lived on this land since before the arrival of the Europeans do not agree with my theory. Author Kenneth Lengner interviewed various members of the Timbisha Shoshone who live in what is now called Death Valley and they told him that petroglyphs were not created by humans but rather by supernatural beings that they call rock babies.  In their view, since the petroglyphs are not created by humans, human urges cannot be said to be the cause of these petroglyphs.  So various anthropological explanations for the origins of the petroglyphs have no merit in their view.

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The Yurt Gets a Door and other improvements

The sixteen foot yurt has lived for over a year without a door.  But now that it has a stove, I discovered that the yurt loses heat quickly without a door.  Actually, I already knew that, but since my improvements on the yurt tend to be on a just in time basis, having a source of heat made a door imperative.  The first stab at a door was to just staple some pieces of vinyl banner to the door frame, but in a wind they were practically useless.  So the next step was to build a door with a wooden frame, something more substantial that would actually keep the drafts out.

The stove, blazing away.

The stove pipe now has a hat which keeps the rain out of the pipe but the smoke hole needs some flashing around the pipe so the tarp that covers the hole in the rain doesnt get melted by the heat from the stove pipe.

One of my neighbors at the shop has donated a chair, a mockup for the console/chair for the boat he is building.

And here is the new door, a wooden frame with a piece of plastic banner stapled to the front of it.

And here is a view of the door from the outside. Love that shanty-town look.

Closeup on the latch mechanism. The string goes through a hole on the top and another on the bottom.  When outside the door, you pull the top string to pull up the latch or the bottom string to pull the latch down. 

By the way, the yurt has now withstood 65 mile an hour winds and survived.  Little by little, small improvements make it a better structure.  Surprisingly, the most challenging task was how to keep the roof in place since wind going over the top of the roof creates a vacuum which wants to lift the roof cover up and then blow it off.  An improved tiedown system did the job.

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The Utility attaching the last of the side planking

Finally, the time came to attach the remaining 7 feet of planking to the port side. 

I prepared for this on a Saturday afternoon, removing all of the screws and setting aside the planking. That sounds simple enough, until you take in to consideration that’s roughly 80 screws, all driven (and removed) by hand. I don’t bother with the power screwdriver anymore... the silicon bronze screw heads are simply too soft. 

Planking removed, waiting for epoxy.

 

The boat framework, waiting for epoxy.

Stem & bow... drilled and ready.

Drilled holes along the upper part of the chine log.

The port side butt block, waiting for the planking.

On Sunday, I launched into the task of attaching the planking on for good. I had everything staged: Mixing cups for 2 batches of epoxy, kitchen scale, plenty of Silvertip Gel Magic on-hand, mixing sticks, chip brushes, an awl for initial alignment of screw holes, screwdriver, rag, putty knife, extra latex gloves, and of course... plenty of clamps. 

Kitchen scale, epoxy & application tools ready-to-go.

After my previous experience with having to mix a second batch of epoxy unexpectedly, this time I pre-planned to mix two batches: One for the framework, one for the plywood. This worked out nicely, with a minimum amount of waste. 

First, I removed the remainder of the forward supports for the construction form. It would be difficult to access all the screws to do this after the planking was on. If I didn’t remove it now, I wouldn’t be able to take the hull off of the form later. What an unpleasant discovery that would be. 

Next, I lightly sanded all the mating surfaces to remove the “rim” around all the holes that I drilled. I wiped the sawdust off of all the surfaces, and mixed the first batch of epoxy. After applying that to the butt block, sheer clamp, chine log, forward frame, and stem, I mixed the second batch and applied it, (globbed it on), to the plywood. Then, I clamped the plywood roughly into position and aligned the first couple of holes with the awl. I then drove a couple of screws, and satisfied with the alignment, clamped down the rest of the plywood. Then I drove the rest of the screws. 

Once that was done, I used the putty knife to scrape away excess epoxy where possible. I used some of the excess to fill screw holes & threads. 

When working with epoxy, I wear two layers of disposable latex gloves. I change the outer layer frequently to reduce mess on tools, etc. 

 The whole process went very smoothly, and took roughly two hours. 

The rest of the port side planking, finally attached.

 

Butt joint, after completion.

The port side planking — glued, screwed and clamped at the stem.

The next steps will be to fair the overhanging edges of the planking down to the chines, and to add a layer of 1/4” Meranti onto the transom. After that, a little more encapsulating work on some small inner parts. Then I can start planking the bottom.

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Completion of dry fitting starboard bottom

With the first forward panel dry-fit, and the Raptor staples sanded off the transom, the next tasks ahead of me were:

1. Decide how to finish the transom.


2. Fit one of the aft panels.


3. Drill & screw the remaining holes in the forward panel.

I had originally planned to stain the transom before fiberglassing it. This is mainly because I felt that Meranti had too much of a dull brown look to it. I wanted the bright finish to have a good bit of red. I was having a hard time finding the right type of stain to do what I wanted. I was also beginning to get the idea that staining and finishing plywood is a bit different than staining and finishing solid stock. Another boatbuilder, with far more knowledge about woodworking than I have, convinced me to at least try a large sample swatch of epoxy over some un-stained Meranti to see what I thought. I did, and was happy enough with the result that I decided to abandon the idea of staining it first.

Un-stained Meranti with a layer of SilverTip epoxy.

Un-stained Meranti with a layer of SilverTip epoxy.

Next came fitting one of the aft bottom panels. Compared to the front, this was quick and easy. Since the aft end of the forward panel is so far back on the boat, the aft panels only needed to be 33 inches long. I cut 33 inches off of one of the full-size sheets of plywood, then cut that in half. I used the factory-cut straight edges to align the panel on the keel’s centerline and to butt up against the forward panel. It fit together very well & I started placing screws every 6 inches, just like the forward panel.

Aft starboard bottom panel fitted into position.

With both pieces fit, and the overhanging edges trimmed down considerably, I looked for any humps or hollows along the surface. Fortunately, I did not see any that I could discern with the naked eye. So, I decided not to shim the chine any on this side.

Thankfully, I did not see any visible humps or hollows on this side.

Lastly, I placed all the remaining screws in the forward panel. Now, there are screws located every 3 inches, so I will not have to worry about trying to do that at the same time as I epoxy the panel down permanently.

The next step will be to remove the forward panel and use it as a template to cut the forward port panel.

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Last big sail of the season

Hindsight being 20/20.  I am so glad I chose this boat as my most recent build.  It sails wonderfully with the changes described before.  I really like the mainsheet on the standup rotating cams. Much simpler.

The mizzen sheet works well as is.

I went out on Narragansett Bay for a 3 hour sail down to Bristol and back from East Providence.  Taking the boat out on a spur of the moment, and beating upwind for a couple of hours before a run home is awesome.

The only issue with sailing these waters is waiting to get space at the ramp.  Almost ran out of gas running in circles waiting my turn.  And, the number of uneducated power boaters putting up huge wakes in narrow channels.

Just off E. Providence

Providence, RI off the stern

Prudence Island in the fore ground.

The forecast is for sub freezing weather, and a change in the weather pattern.  So, this will probably be the last "real" sail of the season.  Motor is off and drained for storage.  We can still hit the lakes, and just paddle back.

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Sail Drone

While driving to work a few days back I noticed some people hoisting a small red airplane looking thing from a trailer.  As the lettering on the wing of the thing indicated, it was a saildrone. When I got home I went to their website http://saildrone.com. There wasnt anything there except a home page, but they have since fleshed it out some.  Anyway, some pictures of the saildrone.

 Here they are unloading the saildrone from its trailer.  At a distance it looks like the tail is at right angles to the main wing but thats an optical illusion.  The horizontal spar that the tail is mounted on is actually at an angle to the horizontal plane and that creates the illusion.

 Thats a lot of crane to unload this small a thing, but the crane was already in place to take the Swedish Americas cup boat in and out of the water.  OK so some overkill is justified.

 The head on view shows the arrangement of the verticals.

And here it is sitting in the water.  Even with a little wind blowing, it heeled way over.  More ballast, I would think.  I also cant picture something this small operating autonomously in the ocean with breaking waves.  Snap that thing in pieces in no time and bend the heck out of any metal.  But I might be wrong.

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April 2015 Masts continued Hatch fitting and finishing

April 2015 - 

The goal this month is to get all below deck level stuff installed and finally get a chance to put the deck on.

Major delays due to this stuff!  WAAYY too much snow this month, and COOOLLLLDDDD. 

Forward hatch frame being fitted.  no glue yet. 

April 12, 2015 - Hatches

All hatches have been fitted with 3/16 foam gasket and fitted to the boat for a watertight seal.  These came out pretty good.  The boat should float for quite a while with the hatches dogged down.  (add photos) 

Forward hatch being fitted

under view shows kayak style plywood clips to hook shock cord on to. 

Foam gasket is seated all around.

Another view from below showing tie down clips. 

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All the bottom planking is fitted However

All the bottom planking is finally fitted.

Two steps forward and one step back. Technically, that is still progress. That’s also the current situation with the Utility as I try to finish up the bottom planking.

In a nutshell, the panels are all fitted, but there is a little more fairing work to be done. Back in March, I mentioned in a post that there appeared to be a low spot on the port chine. With the planking on, I can see that this problem is compounded by a second one: there is also a high point on frame #1.

These two photos show the "hook," or low spot in the planking caused by a high point on frame #1 and a low spot in the chine.

So, what needs to be done now?

I’ll have to remove the panels, and sand down that high point on the frame. I’ll also have to add some more wood to the chine to build up the low area. Then the panels can go back on to re-check the fitting.

Aside from that issue, there has been other progress. I cut away part of the sole support on the transom to make room for a drain tube. I have not decided yet for certain if I will add a drain tube or not. However, if I do, part of the sole support would need to be removed. That is much more easily done before the bottom planking is attached permanently. I cut away a section 1-3/4" wide, next to the port transom knee. That should allow enough room to install a 1" drain tube. A coping saw and a couple of chisels handled the job nicely.

1-3/4" of the sole support on the transom cut away to make room for a drain tube.

 

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Sail Speed Records

New speed records for sail powered water craft are being set constantly. The latest by the Vestas sailrocket is 65.45 knots.  Of course these are records set under ideal conditions.  One should not expect cargo carrying sail boats to reach these kinds of speeds.  Still, regardless of limitations these records are impressive and raise the question, what makes these speeds possible and why werent they achieved in the past? In other words, what has changed?
I suspect the answer to the question is multifaceted.  Perhaps the biggest impediment to new boat designs was tradition.  It took a while to apply airplane technology to sail design.  It also took a while to bring the weight of a sailing craft down enough so a sail could generate enough power to make the sailing craft rise on a hydrofoil.  Speed in a watercraft seems to be limited by friction between the craft and the water and minimizing that makes new records possible.
But in the past, new, faster sail boats evolved from working craft that had to operate under all conditions and not just special race course conditions.  One thing that is apparent from watching the videos of sail records being set is that the wind seems to be off shore with the craft racing alongshore, thereby avoiding waves. 
And there are any number of other things that a useful work boat has to be able to do that a racing craft cannot do.  Still, new ideas are always welcome.  I am looking forward to seeing recreational versions of these craft.  Who knows, perhaps a skin on frame model that does 20 knots would be a fun experiment.  Planing hull, no hydrofoils. 
The little experimenting that I have done with putting sails on skin on frame kayaks has taught me that the inherent flexibility of skin on frame hull limits how much sail one can carry.  The faster the boat is expected to go, the stiffer it needs to be, or in any case, stiffer than a boat that travels at 4 knots.

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Death Valley Car Wash

Death Valley is one of the driest places in the US.  But it does rain every once in a while and when it does, look out.  Thunderstorms apparently come to the valley every 20 years or so.  The last really big rain was in 2004.  Being such a dry place, Death Valley has little vegetation to hold back the runoff when it does rain.  Given that Death Valley has mountain ranges on both sides of it, any rain in the mountains runs down canyons and rushes out into the valley carrying with it gravel, mud and in many cases, stones of good size.  Since the invention of automobiles, rain also carries automobiles down into the valley along with rocks and other debris.
We encountered one such automobile on one of our hikes up toward Trail Canyon in the Panamint Mountains.

At first I thought that what looked like a dune buggy had caught on fire and then at some later time gotten pummeled by energetic youths.

But then we found more debris a little farther up the wash, and it started to look more like the dune buggy had gotten caught in a flash flood and rolled down the hill for several miles and bent up and pulverized in the process,

leaving behind parts like this.
On later inquiry, we found out that there had been a big flood in 2004 which had washed a bunch of cars downhill at the Furnace Creek Inn whose parking lot is inconveniently located on the bed of a wash

Picture of a van that was caught in the flood at Furnace Creek Inn.

And another car caught in the flood.

And another.

And another at some unknown location.

A guy working at the Borax Museum at Furnace Creek told us that a friend of his lost his car in the flood at the Inn and that the car had never been found, apparently buried under a load of gravel..
In any case, rain is a rare event in Death Valley, but should you ever be there when it does rain, look out and dont be caught in what is a dry creek bed most of the time except when it rains at which time it becomes a wet creek bed transporting tons and tons of rocks and mud downhill toward the valley floor.

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